Owners want out at ‘Billionaire’s Row’ skyscraper: report

• Wealthy homeowners are looking to sell at an ultra-luxe building on Manhattan’s “Billionaire’s Row.”
• They’re selling their units at a loss, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The condo board sued the building’s developers in 2021, alleging 1,500 construction and design defects.

An ultra-luxe “Billionaire’s Row” residential tower has been mired in a lengthy legal dispute, and some owners are now looking to sell building, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The condominium board at 432 Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan — once the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere — first sued the building’s developers in 2021.

In their lawsuit, the board argues that the alleged mismanagement at the 96-story, 125-unit skyscraper was “one of the worst examples” of developer malfeasance “in the history of New York City.”

Their suit alleges that the building is riddled with more than 1,500 “construction and design defects,” such as repeated elevator breakdowns, leaks, floods, and obtrusive noise and vibrations caused by the developer’s “failure to properly design” the building to account for its height.

They argue that the developer’s response to those flaws has been “equally atrocious.”

The developers told Business Insider in a statement that the condo board’s lawsuit “has always been misguided, creating a false narrative and inaccurately disparaging the building,” adding that “the complaint is full of falsehoods and hyperbole.”

“The Board’s effort to extract monies to which it is not entitled continues to drive substantial litigation costs for all parties, and further harms the 432 Park Unit Owners by perpetuating a false narrative about the building that can only destroy value,” the developers said in a statement.

In the three years since the initial lawsuit, the battle has intensified, with more than 4 million pages of documents filed in court, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Now, a number of wealthy owners in the building are looking to sell — even if it means taking a loss, the WSJ reported.

Eighteen units in 432 Park, totaling 14% of the building’s units, were listed for sale as of mid-May, the Wall Street Journal analysis found, citing data from StreetEasy.

As of Thursday, 16 units were still listed for sale on StreetEasy, 13 of which are selling for less than they had in previous years, according to their StreetEasy price history. The price of one of the units currently for sale has been reduced by nearly 18% in the last year, StreetEasy data shows.

The building’s six-bedroom, seven-bathroom, 8,255-square-foot penthouse apartment was on sale for $169 million in 2022; now, it’s listed for just $105 million, a 38% reduction.

Since the legal dispute became public in 2021, eleven sales have closed in the building. Those units sold for 3.7% less, on average, than what the sellers originally paid and, for those listed publicly, at a 27.4% discount from the highest asking price, according to the WSJ.

Lawyers for the building’s board did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment